The Louisiana state Congress approved a law this Wednesday that requires colleges and universities that receive public funds to display posters with the Ten Commandments in their classrooms, thus making the state the first in the United States to do so. However, some organizations have already warned that they will sue the law.
The new law, known as HB-71, establishes that a text of the Ten Commandments must be printed on a poster of at least 27 by 35 centimeters and be visible in each classroom. It specifies a particular version of the commandments, and any deviation from this version will be considered a violation of state law.
The posters are due to be displayed in public classrooms by early 2025. The displays will be accompanied by a four-paragraph “context statement” describing how the Ten Commandments “were a prominent part of American public education for nearly three centuries.”
The signs would be funded through donations, NBC News reported.
Dodie Horton, Republican legislator and promoter of the project, defended the measure by stating that the Ten Commandments are the “base of all laws in Louisiana,” the EFE agency detailed. On the other hand, Democrats, who voted against the law, argue that it is unconstitutional.
“Blatantly unconstitutional”
Civil rights organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, and the Southern Poverty Law Center have announced that they will challenge the measure in court.
They argue that the Louisiana law violates the principle of separation of church and state enshrined in the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, which states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the practice.” free of them.”
In a statement, the organizations described the law as “blatantly unconstitutional.”
“The First Amendment promises that we can all decide for ourselves what religious beliefs, if any, to hold and practice, without pressure from the government. Politicians do not have to impose their preferred religious doctrine on students and families in public schools,” they added.
Likewise, they state that even depending on the religious denomination or tradition, the Ten Commandments could differ. Therefore, they believe that the government “should not take sides in this theological debate and certainly should not force students to submit day after day to inevitable promotions of religious doctrine.”
How the initiatives began
These initiatives gained momentum after the US Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling in Kennedy v. Bremerton (WA) School District, which offered a more flexible interpretation of the constitutional ban on state-sponsored religion.
In that case, former Bremerton High School football coach Joe Kennedy was supported by the Supreme Court, which found that his silent prayer at midfield after games did not violate the Constitution.
However, Louisiana’s new law directly challenges Stone v. Graham, a 1980 U.S. Supreme Court decision that banned the display of the Ten Commandments in classrooms nationwide.
With information from EFE.
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